VOL. 53 ISSUE 4 FEBRUARY 2, 2016 P79
UP THE TOP
The cylinder head's overall height
has been shortened, housing a more
compact valve train with the same
longer reach spark plugs as the
supercharged H2. Larger cooling
passages deal with an engine
producing more horsepower and
therefore, more heat.
Four forged chromoloy billet
camshafts have revised timing with
longer overlap for more top-end
power. Valve train's been lightened
and houses titanium valves (exhaust
is 1mm larger). Straighter intake and
exhaust ports extend from a revised
combustion chamber.
FUEL INJECTION
AND RAM AIR
New 32-bit ECU works new 47mm
throttle bodies. The system has been
redesigned to work with the traction
control system.
current world champ, and you
can bet your left nut keeping that
WorldSBK title in the cabinet is
absolutely top of Kawasaki Heavy
Industries' priority. So the 2016
bike must be smaller, better,
smoother, faster, faster, faster.
That's what this bike – the
fourth version of the mighty ZX-
10R – aims to be. The ZX-10R
is all-new – a totally revamped
engine is physically shorter
and lighter and faster revving;
there's a smaller, stiffer chassis;
forks that would make Öhlins
blush and an electronics suite
that rivals anything on offer from
Yamaha, Ducati, BMW or Aprilia.
The tech game has moved on
substantially since 2011, and
Kawasaki's joined the party.
Commanding the ZX-10R elec-
tronics now falls to the Bosch
Inertial Measurement Unit, a
component that takes information
from five axes (longitudinal accel-
The KRT edition at
$16,299 is the pic of
the bunch in terms
of colors but…
2a.jpg: If you want
something a bit
more understated
(and a touch
cheaper), go for
the Metallic Matte
Carbon Grey at
$15,999.
